Awards for July 25th, 2008
Rubious
First award: Adam as Rubious. Adam did a ritual in a tent and no one was around to watch. Despite this, it was without a doubt the greatest ritual the marshal had ever seen a player do. Adam had an entire book of magical symbols and patterns that he painstakingly copied with chalk onto the floor of the tent. He carefully selected his movements throughout the entire process. When he did make a mistake in his symbols, he appeared to have a preplanned method to "overwrite" the offending rune. Since no one was around, he could have easily done the ritual halfheartedly, since it took a full hour, but no, he poured himself into the task. Never once acting as though it were a burden. Instead he appeared in all ways to be the ultimate, quintessential Sorcerer, fully enthralled in his art. His ritual wasn't "showy" with a lot of over acting. His was a ritual of calculated actions, where everything had a set purpose and set time to be enacted.
Sir Thomas Ahlman
Second award: Wally as Thomas the Lizardkin. He took on a new facet of his Thomas persona when he became lizardkin. His movements, actions, and voice all were modified to still be Thomas, but a more impulsive, animalistic version. Sleep poisoning someone who was getting angrier and seeming more like a threat was a perfect example of how a lizardkin might react to a peer who was overstepping their dominance boundaries.
High Inquisitor
The first award goes to Rob Gambino as High Inquisitor Mordecai. At the tribunal, as distant and aloof as his character was, you could feel that there was a fervor beneath it. Every action, movement, and word emphasized his superiority, and when he turned to torture a Malycite, his manner completely reflected a man who truly enjoys his work. This was a very deep characterization, and downright creepy at times, too.
The Jester
The second award goes to Andy as the Jester. Many were blown away by his mannerisms and movements while playing the crazed Harlequin, and were also impressed by how well he infused creepiness with cold and calculating. He played a very powerful NPC well, that could probably have decimated the group he fought, but instead made the encounter interesting and frightening without relying on stats.